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After Dark Films
It seems a bit odd to take on a movie review of Courtney Solomon's Getaway, as only in the loosest terms is Getaway actually a movie. We begin without questions — other than a vague and frustrating "What the hell is going on?" — and end without answers, watching Ethan Hawke drive his car into things (and people) for the hour and a half in between. We learn very little along the way, probed to engage in the mystery of the journey. But we don't, because there's no reason to.
There's not a single reason to wonder about any of the things that happen to Hawke's former racecar driver/reformed criminal — forced to carry out a series of felonious commands by a mysterious stranger who is holding his wife hostage — because there doesn't seem to be a single ounce of thought poured into him beyond what he see. We learn, via exposition delivered by him to gun-toting computer whiz Selena Gomez, that he "did some bad things" before meeting the love of his life and deciding to put that all behind him. Then, we stop learning. We stop thinking. We start crashing into police cars and Christmas trees and power plants.
Why is Selena Gomez along for the ride? Well, the beginnings of her involvement are defensible: Hawke is carrying out his slew of vehicular crimes in a stolen car. It's her car. And she's on a rampage to get it back. But unaware of what she's getting herself into, Gomez confronts an idling Hawke with a gun, is yanked into the automobile, and forced to sit shotgun while the rest of the driver's "assignments" are carried out. But her willingness to stick by Hawke after hearing his story is ludicrous. Their immediate bickering falls closer to catty sexual tension than it does to genuine derision and fear (you know, the sort of feelings you'd have for someone who held you up or forced you into accessorizing a buffet of life-threatening crimes).
After Dark Films
The "gradual" reversal of their relationship is treated like something we should root for. But with so little meat packed into either character, the interwoven scenes of Hawke and Gomez warming up to each other and becoming a team in the quest to save the former's wife serve more than anything else as a breather from all the grotesque, impatient, deliberately unappealing scenes of city wreckage.
And as far as consolidating the mystery, the film isn't interested in that either, as evidenced by its final moments. Instead of pressing focus on the answers to whatever questions we may have, the movie's ultimate reveal is so weak, unsubstantial, and entirely disconnected to the story entirely, that it seems almost offensive to whatever semblance of a film might exist here to go out on this note. Offensive to the idea of film and story in general, as a matter of fact. But Getaway isn't concerned with these notions. Not with story, character, logic, or humanity. It just wants to show us a bunch of car crashes and explosions. So you'd think it might have at least made those look a little better.
1/5
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The remake of Total Recall never escapes the shadow of its Arnold Schwarzenegger-led predecessor — and strangely it feels like a choice. With a script that's nearly beat-for-beat the original film Total Recall plods along with enhanced special effects that bring to life an expansive sci-fi world and action scenes constructed to send eyes flipping backwards into skulls. Filling the cracks of the fractured film is a story that without knowledge of the Philip K. Dick adaptation's previous incarnation is barely decipherable. Those who haven't seen Paul Verhoeven's 1990 Total Recall? Time to get a few memory implants. 2012 Recall makes little sense with the cinematic foundation but it does zero favors to those out of the know.
Colin Farrell takes over duties from Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid a down-on-his-luck factory worker hoping to escape his stagnate existence with a boost from Rekall a company capable of engineering fake memories. Quaid calls the damp slums of "The Colony" home (one of two inhabitable parts of Earth) but he dreams of moving to the New Federation of Britain a pristine metropolis on the other side of the planet. When the futuristic treatment goes awry — caused by previously existing memories of our blue collar hero's supposed past life as a secret agent — Quaid emerges from Rekall with lethal power hidden under his mild-mannered persona. He quickly goes on the run escaping squads of soldiers robots and his assassin "wife " Lori (Kate Beckinsale) all hot on his tail. Total Recall turns into one long chase scene as Quaid unravels the mystery of his erased memories.
But when it comes to answers and heady sci-fi Total Recall falls short. Farrell isn't a hulking action star like Schwarzenegger but he's a performer that can sensitively explore any human crisis big or small. Director Len Wiseman (Underworld Live Free or Die Hard) never gives his leading man that opportunity. Farrell makes the best of the films occasional slow moment but the weight of Recall's mindf**k is suffocated in a series of fist fights hovercar pile-ups and foot chases pulled straight out of the latest platformer video game (a sequence that sends Quaid running across the geometric rooftop architecture of The Colony looks straight out of Super Mario Bros.). When Jessica Biel as Quaid's former romantic interest Melina and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as the power-hungry politico Cohaagen are finally woven into Farrell's feature length 50 yard dash it's too late — the movie isn't making sense and it's not about to regardless of the charm on screen.
The action is slick and the futuristic design is impeccable but without any time devoted to building the stakes Total Recall feels more like a HDTV demo than a thrilling blockbuster. The movie's greatest innovation is the central set piece "The Fall " an elevator that travels between the two cities at rapid speed. The towering keystone of mankind is a marvel but we never get to see it explore it or feel its implications on the world around it. Instead it's cemented as a CG background behind the craze of Farrell shooting his way through hoards of bad guys.
Science fiction more than any other dramatic genre twist demands attention to the details. New worlds aren't built on broad strokes. But Total Recall tries to get away with it in hopes that audiences will recall their own movie knowledge to support its faulty logic. The movie repeatedly prompts viewers to think back to the 1990 version with blatant fan service that's absolutely nonsensical in this restructured version (no longer does Quaid go to Mars but there's still a three-breasted alien?). The callbacks may have given Total Recall a "been there done that" feel but rarely is it coherent enough to get that far. By the closing credits you'll be struggling to remember what you spent the last two hours watching.
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After the debut of the first footage from Wreck-It Ralph at San Diego Comic-Con, the possibility of a great video game movie are finally upon us.If you're like me and were born any time after the invention of Pong, you probably have a bit of gaming experience in your history. We've all played a few rounds of Ms. Pac-Man at the local pizza place, spent hours side-scrolling our way to victory as Mario, dance dance revolutionized the world, and perhaps even dabbled in the latest and greatest of modern gaming technology (heck, even my grandma has Wii bowled). Amazingly, with their wide spread appeal and solid foundation in pop culture, video games haven't had a successful transition into other mediums. Sorry diehard fans of Reboot, Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider or the Halo novels — when it comes to gaming-themed TV and movies, there are few options worth watching.
That might change with Disney's latest animated film, that hopes to simultaneously capitalize on our nostalgia for classic video games while also telling a story that encapsulates everything we love about the experience of sitting down and plugging in. Director Rich Moore (The Simpsons) and cast members John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Jack McBrayer were on hand at SDCC's Hall H to show off the first glimpse of Wreck-It Ralph, a comedy that takes the Roger Rabbit approach to cameos and adapts it to video games. The film follows Ralph, the bad guy of a adventure game akin to Donkey Kong (where Ralph is the baddie continually clobbered by the good guy, Fix-It Felix, played by McBrayer).
Wreck-It Raph is all about finding one's purpose in the world — even if you're a video game bad guy. The classic arc is set against a vibrant world of familiar, CG animated landscapes, inspired by the gaming industry's most famous entries. Here's a rundown of what we saw at the panel, ten minutes of footage:
The first scene showcased sets up the main problem for our lowly bad guy, Wreck-it Ralph. Working in the game Fix-It Felix Jr. (a distant cousin to Donkey Kong), Ralph finds his destructive work constantly undone by Felix and his magic hammer. Every night, he's forced to go home to his landfill while Felix spends the night in the newly constructed apartment with the people's he's saved. He's got it made. Ralph tells his tale in a video game bad guy support group (a scene hinted at in the trailers), and by the end of the session, he's nowhere closer to coming to terms with his identity crisis. He wants to be a good guy, but he was born a bad guy. Not even Mortal Kombat's Kano can help him!
The next clip follows Ralph as he leaves the support group (located in that middle box where the ghosts live in Pac-Man) and heads to Game Central Station, the big hub for all the characters. There's a great spontaneity to the voice work and script — no surprise considering Ralph is voiced by Apatow-regular Reilly. When Ralph arrives to the station, he's scanned by a TSA-esque hologram and the dialogue as an impressive flow. If it weren't animated and had Will Ferrell as the guard, it would basically be Step Brothers! For the G-rated crowd, of course. But it does have a twisted sense of humor too: when Ralph walks the concourse, he bumps into a homeless QBert (before you sigh, when was the last time you played?!). It's hilarious, but touching, as Ralph offers up a Cherry from the Pac-Man world to feed the down-on-his luck platform jumper.
The rest of the clips chart a course for the film's bigger adventure: a road trip through various game landscapes. First up, Ralph heads to the first person shooter, Hero's Duty. The scene shown during the presentation jumped past Ralph's time in the game, when Fix-It Felix Jr. (voiced by Jack McBrayer) enters the world in search of his villain. He runs into Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) who nearly fries him with laser blasts. Interesting world detail: if a video game character heads to another world and is killed, they can't regenerate...
The final scene is between Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), the black sheep of the candy-themed racing game Sugar Rush. Vanellope has lost a medal that Ralph has won in Hero's Duty and he wants it back...or smashing might be in her future. But let's get real, this is Sarah Silverman steering the carts. The argument quickly devolves into a riff on duty and doodie. If it sounds simple and silly, but in the hands of skilled comedians, it's wicked funny.
Wreck-It Ralph's emotional arc feels especially well-handled and shouldn't be overshadowed by the video game hook. That said, the video game hook is pretty damn hilarious. The movie nails it, everything from cameos (Sonic!) to gaming in-jokes to little things like character movements. Recreating the exact motion of the floating Pac-Man ghost is a great gag in itself. That's the kind of detail on display in in this movie.
Wreck-It Ralph hits theaters this November. Start reading through every video game-related Wikipedia article now so you get all the jokes!
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
More:
'Wreck-It Ralph': Video Game Nirvana Just in Time for 'E3' — TRAILER &amp; PICS
New Images of Disney's Video Game-Inspired 'Wreck-It Ralph' Builds Up Our Expectations
E3: 6 New Games That Need to Be Movies
[Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures]

This week, Warner Brothers invites you to Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. The sequel to 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth is the story of a young man searching for his lost grandfather on an uncharted island. He is accompanied by mother’s muscle head boyfriend, as well as two other unlikely adventurers; one of whom is the pilot of the helicopter that crash lands on the island. Starring as the beefy guardian of the protagonist is Dwayne Johnson (née The Rock). The Rock, who as we all know started his career as a professional wrestler, has proven to be quite the box office draw since making the leap to film.
But here at Under the Radar, what interests us just as much as a big star (quite literally in the case of The Rock) is a talented character actor who may not get as much recognition. Such is the case with The Rock’s Journey 2 costar Luis Guzman. Guzman has been working in Hollywood for many years and has appeared in more major, well-known films than we can count. We’ve compiled this list of some of our favorites.
Carlito’s Way
Al Pacino, a decade after portraying Tony Montana in Scarface, reteamed with director Brian De Palma to bring us another iconic Hispanic gangster in 1993’s Carlito’s Way. Pacino’s Carlito Brigante is a former drug kingpin trying to go straight upon his release from prison, but his return to his old neighborhood thrusts him back into the life he thought he’d left behind. A phenomenal film, Carlito’s Way features a number of great performances, in particular that of Sean Penn as a corrupt lawyer. To his credit, Guzman stands out as well as one of Carlito’s oldest friends, who goes on to become his right-hand man.
Boogie Nights
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-nominated 1997 film Boogie Nights is a wild exploration of the nefarious world of the adult film industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The film features an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, and, of course, Luis Guzman. Guzman plays a flashy club owner whose hot nightspot serves as a place of introduction for many of the film’s colorful characters.
Innocent Blood
Despite the fact that, these days, you can’t throw a wooden stake without hitting a vampire movie, 1992’s Innocent Blood is truly fantastic. It’s the story of a beautiful vampire named Marie living, and feeding in Pittsburgh. The thing that makes her unique is that Marie has a very distinct craving…for Italian. She bites the local mafia boss, but in doing so, breaks one of her cardinal rules: she doesn’t kill him. Before long, the city is awash in undead criminals. Innocent Blood is John Landis’ darkly comedic mash up of horror and gangster films, and the combination makes for a decidedly different kind of underworld. With his appearance the film, Guzman adds yet another prominent director to his resume.
Waiting…
While not necessarily one of his artier film roles, Guzman’s turn in the 2005 comedy Waiting never fails to slay us. He costars with Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, and Anna Faris in this vulgar examination of the darker side of waiting tables and the nightmares inherent in working for tips. Guzman plays a member of the kitchen staff at popular restaurant Shenaniganz who engages in a rather disgusting version of show-and-tell with the other staff members. Our advice: don’t look down.
Out of Sight
Steven Soderbergh adapts the work of legendary crime novelist Elmore Leonard to create a smooth, sexy neo noir in 1998’s Out of Sight. It’s a classic story of cops and robbers, of murder and mayhem. Starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, Out of Sight is easily one of the best crime films of the last fifteen years. Guzman plays Chino, an escaped convict who fancies himself a much harder criminal than he actually is. One of the film’s most memorable moments is the scene in which Lopez’s Karen Sisco, a US Marshall, easily takes him down single-handedly while he comically professes his dubious innocence.

Enigmatic and deliberate Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy makes no reservations while unraveling its heady spy story for better or worse. The film based on the bestselling novel by John Le Carre is purposefully perplexing effectively mirroring the central character George Smiley's (Gary Oldman) own mind-bending investigation of the British MI6's mole problem. But the slow burn pacing clinical shooting style and air of intrigue only go so far—Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sports an incredible cast that can't dramatically translate the movie's impenetrable narrative. Almost from the get go the movie collapses under its own weight.
After a botched mission in Hungary that saw his colleague Jim (Mark Strong) gunned down in the streets Smiley and his boss Control (John Hurt) are released from the "Circus" (codename for England's Secret Intelligence Service). But soon after Smiley is brought back on board as an impartial observer tasked to uncover the possible infiltration of the organization. The former agent already dealing with the crippling of his own marriage attempts to sift through the history and current goings on of the Circus narrowing his hunt down to four colleagues: Percy aka "Tinker" (Toby Jones) Bill aka "Tailor" (Colin Firth) Roy aka "Soldier" (Ciaran Hinds) and Toy aka "Poor Man" (David Dencik). Working with Peter (Benedict Cumberbatch) a conflicted younger member of the service and Ricki (Tom Hardy) a rogue agent who has information of his own Smiley slowly uncovers the muddled truth—occasionally breaking in to his own work place and crossing his own friends to do so.
Describing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as dense doesn't seem complicated enough. The first hour of the monster mystery moves at a sloth's pace trickling out information like the tedious drips of a leaky faucet. The talent on display is undeniable but the characters Smiley included are so cold that a connection can never be made. TTSS sporadically jumps around from past to present timelines without any indication: a tactic that proves especially confusing when scenes play out in reoccurring locations. It's not until halfway through that the movie decides to kick into high gear Smiley's search for a culprit finally becoming clear enough to thrill. A film that takes its time is one thing but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does so without any edge or hook.
What the movie lacks in coherency it makes up for in style and thespian gravitas. Director Tomas Alfredson has assembled some of the finest British performers working today and they turn the script's inaccessible spy jargon into poetry. Firth stands out as the group's suave slimeball a departure from his usual nice guy roles. Hardy assures us he's the next big thing once again as the agency's resident moppet a lover who breaks down after a romantic fling uncovers horrifying truth. Oldman is given the most difficult task of the bunch turning the reserved contemplative Smiley into a real human. He half succeeds—his observational slant in the beginning feels like an extension of the movie's bigger problems but once gets going in the second half of the film he's quite a bit of fun.
Alfredson constructs Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy like a cinematic architect each frame dripping with perfectly kitschy '70s production design and camera angles that make the spine tingle. He creates paranoia through framing similar to the Coppola's terrifying The Conversation but unlike that film TTSS doesn't have the characters or story to match. The movie strives to withhold information and succeeds—too much so. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy wants us to solve a mystery with George Smiley but it never clues us in to exactly why we should want to.

The first and most important thing you should know about Paramount Pictures’ Thor is that it’s not a laughably corny comic book adaptation. Though you might find it hokey to hear a bunch of muscled heroes talk like British royalty while walking around the American Southwest in LARP garb director Kenneth Branagh has condensed vast Marvel mythology to make an accessible straightforward fantasy epic. Like most films of its ilk I’ve got some issues with its internal logic aesthetic and dialogue but the flaws didn’t keep me from having fun with this extra dimensional adventure.
Taking notes from fellow Avenger Iron Man the story begins with an enthralling event that takes place in a remote desert but quickly jumps back in time to tell the prologue which introduces the audience to the shining kingdom of Asgard and its various champions. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) son of Odin is heir to the throne but is an arrogant overeager and ill-tempered rogue whose aggressive antics threaten a shaky truce between his people and the frost giants of Jotunheim one of the universe’s many realms. Odin (played with aristocratic boldness by Anthony Hopkins) enraged by his son’s blatant disregard of his orders to forgo an assault on their enemies after they attempt to reclaim a powerful artifact banishes the boy to a life among the mortals of Earth leaving Asgard defenseless against the treachery of Loki his mischievous “other son” who’s always felt inferior to Thor. Powerless and confused the disgraced Prince finds unlikely allies in a trio of scientists (Natalie Portman Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings) who help him reclaim his former glory and defend our world from total destruction.
Individually the make-up visual effects CGI production design and art direction are all wondrous to behold but when fused together to create larger-than-life set pieces and action sequences the collaborative result is often unharmonious. I’m not knocking the 3D presentation; unlike 2010’s genre counterpart Clash of the Titans the filmmakers had plenty of time to perfect the third dimension and there are only a few moments that make the decision to convert look like it was a bad one. It’s the unavoidable overload of visual trickery that’s to blame for the frost giants’ icy weaponized constructs and other hybrids of the production looking noticeably artificial. Though there’s some imagery to nitpick the same can’t be said of Thor’s thunderous sound design which is amped with enough wattage to power The Avengers’ headquarters for a century.
Chock full of nods to the comics the screenplay is both a strength and weakness for the film. The story is well sequenced giving the audience enough time between action scenes to grasp the characters motivations and the plot but there are tangential narrative threads that disrupt the focus of the film. Chief amongst them is the frost giants’ fore mentioned relic which is given lots of attention in the first act but has little effect on the outcome. In addition I felt that S.H.I.E.L.D. was nearly irrelevant this time around; other than introducing Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye the secret security faction just gets in the way of the movie’s momentum.
While most of the comedy crashes and burns there are a few laughs to be found in the film. Most come from star Hemsworth’s charismatic portrayal of the God of Thunder. He plays up the stranger-in-a-strange-land aspect of the story with his cavalier but charming attitude and by breaking all rules of diner etiquette in a particularly funny scene with the scientists whose respective roles as love interest (Portman) friendly father figure (Skarsgaard) and POV character (Dennings) are ripped right out of a screenwriters handbook.
Though he handles the humorous moments without a problem Hemsworth struggles with some of the more dramatic scenes in the movie; the result of over-acting and too much time spent on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Luckily he’s surrounded by a stellar supporting cast that fills the void. Most impressive is Tom Hiddleston who gives a truly humanistic performance as the jealous Loki. His arc steeped in Shakespearean tragedy (like Thor’s) drums up genuine sympathy that one rarely has for a comic book movie villain.
My grievances with the technical aspects of the production aside Branagh has succeeded in further exploring the Marvel Universe with a film that works both as a standalone superhero flick and as the next chapter in the story of The Avengers. Thor is very much a comic book film and doesn’t hide from the reputation that its predecessors have given the sub-genre or the tropes that define it. Balanced pretty evenly between “serious” and “silly ” its scope is large enough to please fans well versed in the source material but its tone is light enough to make it a mainstream hit.

A billionaire TV producer (Robert Mammone) has a great idea for a reality show that he wants to put on the Internet and his goal is to beat the 40 million Super Bowl audience. He has compiled a crack team of young hip and immoral tech geeks directed by Goldman (Rick Hoffman) and puts cameras throughout a remote island where former prisoners are going to kill each other while audiences watch after shelling out the pay-per-view fee. The location is done on a remote secret island and the death row prisoners are bought from prisons around the world with the promise that the survivor gets to walk free. Among the contestants are a rogue Aussie named McStarley (Vinnie Jones) a martial arts expert (Masa Yamaguchi) a husband-and-wife team (Manu Bennett and Dasi Ruz) a monstrous killer who doesn't do much more than grunt (Nathan Jones) and others known only as The Italian The German and other monikers quickly forgotten. Enter the sole American Jack Conrad (Steve Austin) who's in a South American prison for some obscure reason and is recognized on TV by his wife (Madeleine West) who tries to save him. However it looks like Conrad is pretty good at helping himself. Don't expect the acting to be much more evolved than what could be seen among the World Wrestling Entertainment superstars especially since many of them were plucked from the ring to star in this morality tale. But Austin (who had in a strong cameo in Adam Sandler's Longest Yard) proves he has a sense of humor as well as strength. Vinnie Jones is ridiculously over-the-top as the Aussie who's the hand-picked winner of this game shown setting up alliances Survivor style only to turn on them later. The supporting cast are refreshingly entertaining but one-note caricatures both in the contest and running the contest. It's obvious that they aren't going to be around long but the actors do milk their tiny roles for every bit of attention they can get. Rick Hoffman as the brilliant camera mastermind of the project is both whiny sniveling and mean-spirited so when he joins some of the rest of the crew and suddenly develops a backbone and a conscience he ends up stealing the movie with his acerbic humor. But it's the understated American hero Conrad who holds a mirror up to the people who like to watch this stuff. Director Scott Wiper who co-wrote this story has also acted in similar movies like this (A Better Way to Die). It’s obvious he knows what he’s doing with The Condemned and develops a sense of voyeuristic angst like those of us who can't keep our eyes off a train wreck. Like the darkly subversive Belgian film Man Bites Dog the camera crew remains safely distant and remote until the reality directly involves them. Then the crew wonders "What the hell are we doing?" while the audience might be thinking "What the hell are we watching?" Much like Series 7: The Contenders Rollerball and other movies which show a dark and bloody near future this kind of reality doesn't seem too far away and maybe proves that movies which provide this type of gladiator spectacle target a certain segment of the human population who need to blow off steam.

It was a Fast moving weekend at the box office as Universal's The Fast and the Furious sped away with over $41 million.
The PG-13 action drama pulled into theaters with a high octane ESTIMATED $41.6 million at 2,628 theaters ($15,830 per theater).
Fast, which only cost $38 million to produce, appears to be well on its way to a very profitable $100 million in domestic theaters.
Fast's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide or limited release this weekend.
Directed by Rob Cohen and produced by Neal H. Moritz, it stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster.
"It's the eighth all-time June opener and Universal's sixth highest opener ever," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "And it ranks in the Top 25 of all time openers in history, which is a lot to say for a little film that cost $38 million. It's Rob Cohen's biggest opener and Neal Moritz's biggest opener."
(Exhibitors Relations Co., a film industry statistical research firm, lists The Fast and the Furious as the seventh best June opener if estimates hold.)
Pointing out that Fast is playing in 2,628 theaters, which she felt was the perfect number of theaters for it to open in, rather than in 3,000-plus locations, which has become typical for summer releases. "This is a lesson that you don't need to be in 3,500 playdates to do a huge gross," Rocco said. "I want to point out to filmmakers that if you're not in (over 3,000 theaters) you can still have a blockbuster."
Focusing on Fast's high speed launch, Rocco observed, "Obviously, the grosses speak for themselves as an indication of the enormously successful opening that we've had. What I'm absolutely excited about are the exit polls. To see an excellent rating for all [demographic] categories come in at 60 percent where the norms are 35 percent is extraordinary. The core audience [which is the under-25 group] is 68 percent excellent. These are enormous exit polls.
"The Top Two boxes [excellent and very good] is 89 percent. Now remember, you're taking into consideration [in this score people who are] over 25 years of age. For the core audience, it's 91 percent. The Definite Recommend is 71 percent and 78 percent for the score. It's unbelievably impressive."
Rocco noted that the exits were done Saturday night, "so we're not just getting the must-see people who go out on a Friday night. These were polled on Saturday night. That's what's so amazing to me. The breakdown of the audience last night was 55 percent male and 45 percent female. That's not heavily loaded to males. And it was very ethnically mixed. It was 50 percent white, 24 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian, 10 percent black and 5 percent others. So it had a good ethnic mix. And it bodes well for today's business between kids being out of school and Sunday being a good day for films [that play well to ethnic audiences]. That's why we're counting on the business being extraordinary today. There are no [major televised] sporting events to interfere with us.
"I'm just so excited for Rob Cohen and Neal Moritz. And I have to commend our production group and Scott Stuber (co-president of production). This was an in-house developed project. Scott found an article in Vibe magazine about streetcar racing and he developed this. So it's kudos to the production group. Our marketing, distribution and production people have proven -- and this is just a further example -- how we can tap into a certain culture. We did it with Bring It On. We did it with American Pie. And now we've done it with The Fast and the Furious."
Focusing on the film's release, Rocco commented, "The distribution strategy was absolutely perfect. In an environment where it's almost a must that you find 3,000 playdates, we've just proven that 2,600 playdates gets the job done as well as any film opening with over 3,000 playdates. That's not to say that we won't have 3,000 playdates on other films, it's just to say that you go with the flow and do what the marketplace demands of you."
Rocco also tipped her hat to Universal Pictures vice chairman Marc Shmuger "for having the enthusiasm and the drive to convince us to move it from March or April to the summer. After the second test screening, Marc looked at everybody and discussed with the filmmakers the fact that this would be a perfect summer programmer."
Rocco noted that at the time she believed Fast was going to be hit and felt she needed it on the studio's spring release schedule. "Marc had the vision and the guts to say, 'We could do it, team. Let's move it to the summer.' The only date that we felt comfortable with was this date, which was sandwiched between Tomb Raider and A.I. I have to give him a lot of credit for having that vision and the faith.
"I like to space out all my hits and we needed a film in the spring. But everything that Marc said made so much sense that we moved it. He convinced us, so we found this date. We knew we weren't going to go on the Tomb Raider date (or) the A.I. date. We had Jurassic Park 3 set for mid-July, so we didn't want to go there. This was the only reliable date that I could pick. And I didn't want to go earlier and cut into The Mummy Returns."
20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment's PG rated comedy sequel Dr. Dolittle 2 kicked off in second place to a solid ESTIMATED $26.71 million at 3,049 theaters ($8,761 per theater).
The 1998 original -- inspired by the 1967 musical -- opened the weekend of June 26-28, 1998 to $29.01 million at 2,777 theaters ($10,448 per theater). In its second weekend (July 3-5), the original fell 32% and placed second with $19.68 million at 2,871 theaters ($6,853 per theater). It went on to gross $144.2 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Steve Carr and produced by John Davis, it stars Eddie Murphy.
"I'm looking at the overall weekend and I can't believe it -- it's up [over] 40 percent from last year," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said Sunday morning. "It's astonishing. How much can a market expand? What it says is that there's enough pictures that they do want to see. You're looking at five movies over $10 million. It's just amazing."
Looking at Dolittle's opening weekend, Snyder noted, "We were up 16 percent from Friday to Saturday. I was looking for a little bigger bump, but I guess there's just so much business out there. I was also looking at Atlantis and Shrek, which are family movies [like Dolittle]. They did almost $24 million between them and with our $26.7 million, you're looking at $50 million in family movies. It was a terrific weekend and I'm thrilled with our number. I believe we'll be around all summer with it."
Some observes had expected Dolittle to open in first place, which Snyder said had looked likely until this week's tracking data became known.
"If you had asked me that two weeks ago, I would have told you I thought so, too," he said. "As of this week, you could see the heat building on the teenage movie. One thing about teenage movies is that the kids have to get in there immediately. Dolittle you can see this week, next week, the week after. When it comes to teenage movies, (you've got to be there right away), which is why it goes down from Friday to Saturday. [Fast] was off 10 percent, which is not a big drop on such a huge number, but it's indicative of the teenage moviegoing habit vs. family [audiences]."
Looking for a long run on Dolittle, he added, "We'll be talking about it in August."
Paramount and Mutual Film Company's PG-13 rated action adventure Lara Croft: Tomb Raider fell sharply in its second week by two rungs to third place with a less sexy ESTIMATED $20.2 million (-58%) at 3,312 theaters (+4 theaters; $6,099 per theater). Its cume is approximately $84.2 million, heading for $125-130 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Simon West, Tomb stars Angelina Jolie.
"I think it's $125-135 million, in there somewhere, if it continues along this same pattern that X-Men did, which frankly it's just virtually mirrored every day as far as percentage drops," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "Actually, on Thursday X-Men dropped 10 percent from the Wednesday figure and we were flat with Wednesday, so we were a little bit on the positive side. But the percentages have been virtually the same. They were down 57 percent their second weekend."
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated animated feature Atlantis slid two pegs in its third week, but held well with an ESTIMATED $13.2 million (-35%) at 3,071 theaters (+60 theaters; $4,298 per theater). Its cume is approximately $44.3 million.
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, its voice talents include Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer and Leonard Nimoy.
DreamWorks' PG rated computer animated blockbuster Shrek dropped two notches to fifth place in its sixth week, continuing to hold strongly with an ESTIMATED $11.0 million (-16%) at 3,007 theaters (-310 theaters; $3,663 per theater). Its cume is approximately $215.8 million on its way to $250 million or more.
DreamWorks said Shrek hit $200 million on June 19, almost exactly one month after its wide release on May 18.
"Crossing $200 million this early out puts Shrek in the kind of rarified atmosphere that would be a fairy tale come true for any studio," DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp said in announcing the milestone. "The film's success speaks volumes about how well this movie plays to audiences across every geographic and demographic divide. We are thrilled that moviegoers are not only continuing to discover the magic of Shrek for the first time, but are going back again and again -- and taking friends. The resulting word of mouth has been a big part of the box office success and should continue to carry it throughout the summer."
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, its voice talents include Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow.
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow's R rated action thriller Swordfish dropped two rungs to sixth place in its third week with an OK ESTIMATED $7.7 million (-39%) at 2,660 theaters (-28 theaters; $2,900 per theater). Its cume is approximately $53.2 million, heading for $72-73 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Dominic Sena and produced by Joel Silver and Jonathan Krane, it stars John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle.
"It's sensational given the competition in our demographic the last two weeks from Tomb Raider and Fast and the Furious, these are great," Warner Bros. Distribution executive vice president &amp; general sales manager Jeff Goldstein said Sunday morning.
Looking ahead to what looms as next weekend's big film, Goldstein reminded, "A.I. opens up Friday in over 3,000 locations."
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' PG-13 rated three hour epic action romance Pearl Harbor fell two rungs to seventh place in its fifth weekend with a less explosive $7.0 million (-29%) at 2,668 theaters (-472 theaters; $2,618 per theater). Its cume is approximately $172.1 million, on its way to $200 million by late summer.
Directed by Michael Bay, Pearl was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. Starring are Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnet, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight and Alec Baldwin.
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated romantic musical drama Moulin Rouge held on to eighth place in its sixth week, continuing to hold well with an ESTIMATED $3.84 million (-24%) at 1,592 theaters (-492 theaters; $2,411 per theater). Its cume is approximately $43.4 million.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, it stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
"It's off (only) 24 percent and yet we lost 25 percent of our theaters," Fox's Bruce Snyder said Sunday morning. "I think something's happening there. (The cut-back in theaters) funneled the business back into the theaters that were strong."
Where is it going? "I've got to think we can get to $55 million and that will be delightful," Snyder said. "This is not an easy movie. It doesn't fit the cookie cutter molds that I'm accustomed to dealing in, so I'm delighted."
DreamWorks' and Columbia's PG-13 rated sci-fi comedy Evolution fell three pegs in its third week with a calm ESTIMATED $3.6 million (-46%) at 2,258 theaters (-355 theaters; $1,578 per theater). Its cume is approximately $32.6 million.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, it stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott and Julianne Moore.
Rounding out the Top 10 was Columbia's release of Revolution Studios PG-13 youth appeal comedy The Animal, down three rungs in its fourth weekend with a quiet ESTIMATED $3.0 million (-48%) at 2,228 theaters (-513 theaters; $1,346 per theater). Its cume is approximately $51.3 million, heading. for $55 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Luke Greenfield, it stars Rob Schneider.
On the expansion front, this weekend saw Fox Searchlight's R rated drama Sexy Beast widen in its second week with a very sexy ESTIMATED $0.65 million at 57 theaters (+48 theaters; $11,426 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.97 million.
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, it stars Ben Kingsley.
"It's playing extremely well across the country -- from Boston to Houston to Seattle to Chicago," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning. "I think what's happened is that the Don Logan character than Ben Kingsley has created is fascinating people. It's a larger than life character and people are really talking about it. It's almost like a Travis Bickel or a Hannibal Lecter. People are just mesmerized and they're talking about it.
"In New York, where we're in our second week, all of the four theaters went up this weekend, which is just excellent. We're adding another 21 markets this week and we'll go to over 100 theaters and we have additional cities (that we'll be adding) every weekend in July. We're going to get to 150 to 200 theaters."
Focusing on where it's playing best at this point, Gilula noted, "It is not crossing over yet into the pure commercial suburbs. But our suburban runs in New York were actually quite good. We seem to be the art film or the limited release film of the summer so far. (Fine Line's) Anniversary Party is doing pretty well, in addition."
Asked where Beast is heading, Gilula replied, "I hesitate to give you a number yet in terms of where we're going to end up, but I think we'll get past $5 million, which for us on a small film will be just fine.
"Even in a mega-summer, there's an audience out there that really seeks out alternative sort of smart film entertainment. It is not a monolithic market, at all. There are audiences that are out there all year long always looking for all kinds of movies."
Fine Line Features' R rated comedy The Anniversary Party went wider in its third week with a still encouraging ESTIMATED $0.62 million at 85 theaters (+69 theaters; $7,335 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.2 million.
Written and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, its ensemble cast includes Jane Adams, Jennifer Beals, Phoebe Cates, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Parker Posey and John C. Reilly.
Lions Gate Films' PG-13 rated drama Songcatcher expanded in its second week with an uninspired ESTIMATED $0.06 million at 13 theaters (+6 theaters; $4,630 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.12 million.
Directed by Maggie Greenwald, it stars Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn.
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $14.33 million, up about 42.34% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $100.69 million.
This weekend's key film gross was up about 10.97% from last weekend this year when key films took in $129.15 million.
Last year, Fox's opening week of Me, Myself &amp; Irene was first with $24.21 million at 3,019 theaters ($8,019 per theater); and DreamWorks' opening week of Chicken Run was second with $17.51 million at 2,491 theaters ($7,028 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $41.7 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $68.3 million.